ISST (International Student Support Team)

members and international students got

along very well and cooperated to make this

festival successful.

I would like to say that it is worth participat-

ing in the Kishibe Festival. Firstly, we could

do something good for others by collecting

money for the charity. Secondly, we learned

many different things: planning, organizing,

decorating, cooking, promoting, and so on.

We also could become close friends with

people you just knew before. I am sure this

precious experience will be useful in our lives

later on.

All in all, I would recommend all interna-

tional students who will come to OGU in the

future to participate in the Kishibe Festival! It

is so much fun!

Martin Bureš ((((Metropolitan University Prague)

Ever since our arrival in Osaka until today,

every International student has experienced

Japanese culture, but probably nothing is

closer to our experience of taking part in the

Kishibe Festival. Although I am not the best

writer in the first place, I know one thing for

certain, our experience cannot be described

- the atmosphere that was created by the

collective effort of the OGU students, the

ISST members, the International Center

staff, the I-Chat Lounge staff and us, the

international students from all corners of the

world - in several sentences. We are glad

Vol. 14 Fall, 2011

TTAKINGAKING

The International Center Newsletter

The 50th Kishibe Festival –

Kanade (Playing a tune)

OOFFFF

D uring the 50th Kishibe Festival

held from October 21 to 23, inter-

national students set up four

different booths on the “Kokusai Dori

(International Street)”. It had been only

two months since they came to Japan,

but they spent about a month to prepare

for this festival. Their great effort paid

off, as they received the best award in

the booth category. This issue features

comments of two team leaders.

They have donated their proceeds to

those who still suffer from the aftermath

of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Alexander T. Uder ( ( ( (Trier University)

During the preparation period, we had to

think about a concept first, and then decide

what and how many to sell, what we needed,

how much of the ingredients we need to

purchase, and so on. We had several meet-

ings to find an answer to all of these ques-

tions, but it was sometimes difficult for every-

one to be in the meeting because we have

different class schedules. Thanks to every-

one, they had been so flexible and coopera-

tive to get ready before the festival started.

During the Kishibe Festival, we had a lot of

different tasks: decorating and preparing our

booth, cleaning, buying, cooking, selling,

calling customers to our booth, and many

more. All volunteer students were very flexi-

ble and did not only do what they were as-

signed, but they did what was needed. The

Genki: Tteokbokki and Hotteok

Inter-Food: Finish soup and German sausages

Yakitate! Europe & America: French toasts and pancakes

Peace: Crepes

＜＜＜＜Team Names and Sold Items >

Page 2 Vol. 14

that we had a great opportunity to contrib-

ute to such an amazing event and to make

it a great success. This Kishibe Festival

will turn into a beautiful and unforgettable

memory we will hold in our heart when we

all go back to our home countries.

After being welcomed by the marvelous

initial show of OGU´s beautiful cheerlead-

ers, the festival started. During the festival,

many people visited our booths from the

morning to the afternoon, and there were

also at least two dozen booths and many

different kinds of food were sold there.

Therefore, I am sure everyone eventually

found something that would make his/her

stomach growl or was simply curious

about.

Running a small business with the ISST

members was enjoyable and somehow

educational. How many people would say

they have an experience of working with

so many people side by side to make one

thing happen? I assure you there are not

so many. Every member of four booths

worked so hard that no single person just

stood there and did nothing. In addition to

this, we had many chances to talk with

local people as well as other students.

Although very few of us can speak Japa-

nese fluently, all of us tried hard to com-

municate with them in limited Japanese.

At last, our hard work was rewarded by

the OGU´s best award on the final day of

the festival. All international and OGU

students at the closing ceremony shared

our joy by big applause. However, I must

say that without the support from the OGU

personnel and everyone else, we would

never have received this award. This is

just a small part of the Kishibe Festival. If

you want to hear more, please do not hesi-

tate to talk to us, the international stu-

dents.

* Comments of other two team leaders are featured in our blog, Taking Off. Please check it out as well. Thank you.

ttp://inoffice.blog102.fc2.com/

T he International Center, working

with the OGU Student Association,

raised money for the Thai flood

victims during the Kishibe Festival. OGU

exchanges students with Bangkok Univer-

sity and Khon Kaen University in Thailand.

We conducted the Thai Work Camp

(volunteer work) in May and the Thai Hos-

pitality Tourism Study Trip in September of

this year, and sent total 14 students to

Thailand this year. As shown here, we

have built a close relationship with them.

We would also like to comment that Bang-

kok University donated money for the

earthquake and tsunami victims right after

the Great East Japan Earthquake hap-

pened. Due to the close relationship with

Thai partners, we did a fundraising for

three days during the Kishibe Festival.

Many people who stopped at our interna-

tional students’ booths helped us, so we

will be able to donate total 79,752 yen to

the flood victims through our partner uni-

versities.

OGU Graduate Now: Yujin Yamamoto, ESCE (France) (Class of 2011) We featured new options for study abroad returnees and post-graduate programs at OGU in the previous issue. This issue

features Yujin Yamamoto, who graduated from OGU in March of this year and started graduate school in August at ESCE, one

of our overseas partners in France. During his four years at OGU, he participated in a short-term English program at Univer-

sity of Hawaii and The University of Mississippi, studied at University of St. Thomas for two semesters as an exchange stu-

dent, joined the prestigious Cambridge University Queens College Study Program, and also had a good relationship with in-

ternational students at OGU. He is now studying business in France to make his dream of working overseas come true.

studying with them makes my view toward

the world wider. Most of my classes are

quite student-oriented, including presenta-B onjour! I am now studying marketing

and management at ESCE in Paris,

France. Each class usually lasts for

three hours and consists of 20 to 40 stu-

dents from all over the world. Each has

different values and points of view, so

Donate full proceeds to earthquake victims!

H elping hands are continuously left

to victims of the Great East Japan

Earthquake in Japan, but it is in-

evitable that it must be done on a long-

term basis. OGU has tried to raise money

for the victims within the campus, and at

the same time, many of our overseas part-

ners have done the same. Some partner

universities also gave us a donation.

Showing our thanks to all of them, we

asked international students to help us in

raising money for Tohoku. They graciously

agreed with our request and decided to

donate all sales earnings at the Kishibe

Festival. They with ISST members tried

hard to sell as many meals as possible to

raise money for three days and earned

over 200,000 yen total. We were able to

donate 207,506 yen to the Japan Red

Cross as a charity for Tohoku.

We would like to take this opportunity to

thank all of you who helped us at the Ki-

shibe Festival. Thank you very much!

Fundraising for the

Thai flood victims!

Message from international students:

Don’t give up, Tohoku

(Top ) Kokusai Dori (International

Street) (Right) Leaders

(Jenni and Martin) receiving an award at the closing cere-

mony

¥207,506

Page 3 Vol. 14

tions, group work, and case studies. How-

ever, some are just a regular lecture-type,

so I sometimes feel bored with these

classes. Here is one thing I was very im-

pressed with after I came to France. Euro-

pean students speak English fluently no

matter which country they come from. It is

of course because their native tongue is

close to English, but some students do not

have even a slight foreign accent. I also

realized once again the importance of

mastering English after I came here.

ESCE is not like an American university

campus. It does not have any on-campus

dormitories, so I have fewer chances to

interact with other students. However,

going out for a cup of coffee or a drink with

my classmates helps me to create a good

relationship with them and to know Paris

more. Considering this, things are not bad.

I sometimes miss Japanese customer

service. I study management at school, so

even more so. But you cannot expect eve-

rything I had in Japan to happen here, so I

decided to be more realistic about that.

Friends around me often tell me that

French are difficult to get along with, but I

personally do not think so. They are al-

ways kind to me coming from Japan. I also

felt many French are also interested in

Japan. Regardless of fields they are inter-

ested in, Manga or traditional Japanese

culture, I rather appreciate them for being

interested in Japan and Japanese people.

bridge University beforehand. I first de-

cided to take this class because I want to

acquire as much knowledge as possible

while studying in the graduate school and

to improve my English skills.

Before going to the U.K., I have never

been to any other overseas countries be-

sides Japan (She is originally from

mainland China.). I learned in English in

China. Therefore, the U.K. was the first

English-speaking country I visited. Some

people made a good comment on my Eng-

lish, but I was a little nervous to visit an

unknown country.

Two weeks passed so quickly after my

study at Cambridge University started, but

I learned a lot for such a short period of

time. Our group studied and lived on cam-

pus like regular Cambridge students. Al-

most all things were done on campus, so

we were able to talk with our teachers

even while having a meal. During the class

time, we were able to exchange opinions

freely. What a teacher tells us is not al-

ways absolutely right. If we have a differ-

ent opinion, we could speak it out. If there

is something we do not understand during

the class, we could ask our teachers any-

time later. On some days, after long study

hours, we all went to a pub together and

talked about many different things while

having beer. I really enjoyed the permis-

sive atmosphere.

Riding a boat on the River Cam is also a

part of our class time. We took turns row-

ing the boat enjoying beautiful sceneries,

and listened to our teacher explaining the

history of each college at Cambridge Uni-

versity. This is something I have never

experienced before.

We also went on an extracurricular trip to

London and visited the Bank of England

Museum. We understood what we learned

in the classroom better, such as inflation,

deflation, etc., through movies and games

there.

I adventurously traveled alone to Scot-

land, the Lake District, and many other

places before and after the program. I met

good people who became my friends and

felt confident in my English skills through

these trips. I would like to challenge new

things from now on believing in my capa-

bility.

(Top) At the Queens’ College Campus (Bottom) With Dr. Milgate and Mr. Shakle-ton in the classroom (Luo in the middle)

Cambridge University Queens’ College Study Program

Luo Jing (Graduate School of Law)

I participated in the Cambridge Univer-

sity Queens’ College Study Program in

England for two weeks in September of

this year. Anyone who participates in this

program must take a special economics

class taught by Dr. Murray Milgate of Cam-

Message from Yujin: If you have any

questions or comments, please contact me

anytime through the International Cen-

ter!

Visiting a German friend who used to study at OGU (Yujin at right)

O n October 26, we as a group of 9

people from different countries

visited Kitayodo High School. We

took a train to Kami-Shinjo Station and

headed to the school on foot from there.

OGU was not the only university that par-

ticipated in this event, so we met other

international students from different

schools in the library. Wearing slippers

inside the school was quite a new experi-

ence for us. We do not have anything like

that in Germany. After the head teacher

Kitayodo High School Visit by International Students: Nathalie Bresan gave us a speech and thanked us for

participating, we were divided into sev-

eral groups. A group of four people in-

cluding myself went to the third class of

the second year. As we arrived in the

classroom, the teacher introduced us to

Is English difficult!? Tips to improve your TOEIC score from 345

to 740: Asuka Hara (3rd year student, Economics)

W hen you start something new,

often times you face challenge.

It was also true in my case. I

started studying English hard after about

five months had passed since entering

OGU. I was not really interested in English

before that, so I was already far behind

from other students then. My first TOEIC

score was 345. This score clearly showed

that I did not have sufficient grammatical

knowledge and listening ability. I even did

not know where to start. I encountered a

big challenge.

However, when I set a future goal, it

seemed everything had changed. My goal

was to find a job in which I can use Eng-

lish. Once you set a goal, what you need

is to find a shortest way to reach the goal.

Many things related to English came up to

my mind; when to get 900 on TOEIC,

when to take TOEFL, when to go study

abroad, and so on. I started studying basic

English first, and then started going to the

I-Chat Lounge when I became a sopho-

more, where I tried to communicate with

native English speakers and international

students as often as possible. The more I

spoke English at the I-Chat Lounge, the

more I became motivated to improve my

English communication skills because I

always felt frustrated or disappointed with

my own English. We are very lucky to

have such an on-campus facility at OGU.

In addition to this, whenever I had time, I

studied English at home and at school;

furthermore, I tried to read materials re-

lated to economics and international is-

sues in English. I still continue doing all of

these things.

My current TOEIC score is 740. It is not

that high yet, but my English ability has

improved comparing to the time when I did

not know what to do. It is not only the mat-

ter of English. I always believe when I start

something, I would like to be someone

others look up to. This is very important. If

I make an utmost effort to become some-

one like that, it will be a great chance to

overcome my inferiority complex and to be

even more motivated to go forward

I focus on only English right now, but

English is just another tool. Therefore, I

believe I need to accumulate more knowl-

edge on many other things. I will continu-

ously endeavor to make my dream come

true.

Talking with a friend (Asuka, right)

My Life at Medicine Hat College in Canada: Akane Watanabe

(3rd year student, Hospitality Business Administration)

I came to Medicine Hat College in Can-

ada in September of 2011. I am taking

English classes here. My classmates in

the ESL program (Intensive English Pro-

gram) are mainly from Asia, but some are

from Mexico and Columbia. Therefore, I

have a chance to encounter different cul-

tural aspects through them.

Mastering a language is one of my main

goals to come to Canada, so I try to im-

prove my English. During lunchtime, we

set a rule that if we speak each other’s

native tongue, we must pay 1 dollar. This

is a fun way to speak English. Students

from the same country tend to gather and

speak their own language, so it is always a

challenge for us to overcome the tempta-

tion. It has been almost two months since I

came here, but I still do not understand or

misunderstand what people tell me some-

times, or cannot communicate as well as I

want. This type of incident happens almost

everyday. I still cannot be confident in my

English skills.

the entire class, which was already divided

into four. The group I joined was a really

nice group.

First, I

taught them

some words

in my native

language,

German,

and then

we played a

game and had a great time. After we spent

2 hours there, we moved to a big hall and

watched shows students prepared for us.

A Taiko group performed first, and next a

student showed us a performance with a

Japanese toy called Kendama, which was

really good. A Judo performance followed

them. Four students taught us several

Judo techniques. And then a Beatles copy

band covered famous Beatles songs. They

were one of the best Beatles copy bands I

have ever seen. Finally, a much bigger

band with two female vocalists performed

on the stage. All of them were amazingly

good and high quality. We all had a great

time to know how the high school stu-

dents’ life goes in Japan.

9 international students who participated in the event (Nathalie, third from right)

Page 4 Vol. 14

I am also often surprised at encountering

different culture and customs. For exam-

ple, not only a bus arrives late here, but

also it leaves a bus stop earlier than

scheduled, it dose not stop even when I

pressed a stop button, or it is suddenly

cancelled without any notice. It goes on

and on. If you live in Canada, you will defi-

nitely find the promptness of Japanese

public transportation. Furthermore, I also

feel how much Japanese have a sense of

vulnerability for many different things.

(Top) At the Halloween costume party

(Right) With ESL class-mates

(Akane, second from left)

〒564-8511 大阪府吹田市岸部南二丁目36番1号

TEL: 06-6381-8434 （代表） FAX: 06-6381-8499 Email: inoffice@ogu.ac.jp

大阪学院大学／大阪学院短期大学

国際センター

国際センターBLOG““““Taking Off”もご覧ください。

http://inoffice.blog102.fc2.com/

Page 5 Vol. 14

There is a custom to a big celebration

when there is a special holiday in Can-

ada, so this is always interesting to me.

Recently, we celebrated Halloween. I

visited our neighbors’ houses with my

host brothers, who are 4, 7, and 10 years

old, saying “Trick or Treat!” It was so

much fun. I now look forward to the next

big holiday, Christmas.

I occasionally feel like crying when I

think that my English has not improved

much since I came here, but I try to tell

myself, “if I have time to cry over my

shortcomings, I should use the time to

study English.” I still feel sad to face the

reality, but I am not depressed because

there are more fun things than hard ones

in my life here. I would like to think this

study abroad experience is useful for me

when I look back these days someday,

so I will do my best to study hard and

enjoy my life in Canada.

News in December A completion ceremony and farewell lunch was held on December 21, 2011. 23 international students will leave OGU after this semester, but we will welcome another 10 students from Australia, China, France, Germany, Korea, and Taiwan in January!

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Level 4 Level 5

Students who completed the program